France
will deploy its first U.S.-made unmanned surveillance drones MQ-9
Reaper to West Africa by the end of the year, Defence Minister
Jean-Yves Le Drian said last week, as it seeks to "eliminate all
traces of al Qaeda". France's military intervention in Mali in January
exposed its shortage of surveillance drones suitable for modern warfare,
forcing it to rely on the United States to provide French commanders with
intelligence from drones based in neighbouring Niger.

The MQ-9
Reaper Unmanned Aerial Vehicle taxis into Creech Air Force Base, Nevada,
March 13 marking the first operational airframe of its kind to land here.

In July 2013, France
has requested to buy 16 General Atomics-made MQ-9
Reaper UAV Unmanned Aerial Vehicles from the U.S. government
through a potential $1.5 billion foreign military sales agreement.

France intends for the remotely-piloted aircraft to support military
intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions and to help coordinate
between U.S and French military and peacekeeping forces.

Niger gave permission in January for U.S. surveillance drones to be
stationed on its territory to improve intelligence on al Qaeda-linked
Islamist fighters in the region.

France intervened
in Mali at the start of the year as Islamist forces, who seized control
of the north in the confusion following a military coup in March 2012,
pushed towards the capital Bamako.

Their advance lifted
Mali to the forefront of U.S. and European security concerns, with fears
the Islamists would turn the country into a base for international attacks.

The General Atomics MQ-9
Reaper (formerly named Predator B) is an unmanned aerial
vehicle (UAV) capable of remote controlled or autonomous flight operations,
developed by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) primarily
for the United States Air Force.

The typical MQ-9
system is composed of multiple aircraft, ground-control stations, satellites,
and flight and maintenance crews. The aircraft is powered by a 950 horsepower
turboprop, with a maximum speed of about 483 km/h and a cruising speed
of 315 km/h. With a 20 m wingspan, and a maximum payload of 1,700 kg,
the MQ-9 can be armed with a variety of weaponry, including Hellfire
missiles and 500-lb laser-guided bomb units